OU women's coach Tungate is living the dream

For new Oakland University women's basketball coach Jeff Tungate, the road has always led back to his alma mater.

"I love Oakland," he said. "It would have taken a very special situation to take me away.

"It's been a dream for me."

After several seasons as men's basketball coach Greg Kampe's top assistant, Tungate is now leading Oakland's women's team through a transition period.

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Tungate last served as a head coach at Division II Lincoln Memorial (Tenn.) University from 1999-2004, and the program achieved unprecedented success at that level.

After a quick stop back at Oakland as an assistant coach on the 2004-05 Cinderella Golden Grizzlies team which made a surprising run to the NCAA tournament, Tungate was off to Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne, where he joined fellow Clarkston native Dane Fife as his associate head coach from 2005-07.

He returned to Oakland as Kampe's top assistant in 2007.

Former Oakland coach Beckie Francis was fired June 12 with cause, the university said, after an investigation into her conduct and other aspects of the team was initiated by allegations of improper behavior. Tungate was then named the interim replacement.

The internal review is still ongoing, according to a university spokesman.

When the athletics department announced Francis' firing after 13 seasons, a national search was to be conducted. However, director of athletics Tracy Huth said the ease with which Tungate transitioned to the position as well as unanimous support from the players, proved the right candidate was already on campus.

Barely a month after firing the longtime coach, Huth stood at a podium in mid-July surrounded by fans and their families to announce Tungate would become the full-time replacement.

"It was a special night," Tungate said. "I really didn't know what the timetable was. We had talked about (me accepting the position)."

Tungate's contract is very similar to his predecessor with the exception he will be making $136,000 per season in base compensation -- the salary Francis would have made in the Golden Grizzlies' first season in the Horizon League -- according to documents obtained by The Oakland Press through a Freedom of Information request.

Tungate's contract is a five-year deal, and he takes over a team which finished 9-20 after an injury-plagued 2012-13 season in which the Golden Grizzlies were without preseason conference player of the year Bethany Watterworth (Lake Orion).

Watterworth is "day- to-day" in her recovery from the back injury suffered last offseason that claimed her senior season, Tungate said.

After two seasons at the bottom of the Summit League and four transfers from last season's team, Tungate has work to do.

"It's going to be a process," he said. "I'm not sure how we stack up. Our focus is on creating the culture we want.